Any least favorite books?

[Thatchermom]

Jumping off the favorite books thread, I thought of this last night when DS chose a book at bedtime that is NOT my favorite. There just seems to be some books that are his favorites, but definitely not mine. While some are outright bad, some are okay and just give you the "eye-rolls". (What DH says I do every time he chooses the book he did last night)

Ours last night was a book called "Handy Lamb". Not only is it not great verse and has a cheesy female fixer-upper premise, the darn thing has a stuffed lamb head on the last page that fits in a cutout through all the other pages - but makes it nearly impossible to fit on a bookshelf with other books. I have to arrange the whole bottom shelf of the bookcase to fit it...

Another one that is hard in our house is "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom." While actually a great book, it always leaves us in a discussion too hard for DS to understand. The author obviously did NOT grow up on the East coast and I did. In our house, "Aunts" and "pants" DON'T rhyme. It always goes like this...

"Mamas and papas and uncles and aunts hug their little dears, then dust their pants."
"Mommy, shouldn't it be "ponts"? (phonetically)
"Well, yes, maybe. That would make it 'match'. Mr. Martin who wrote the book doesn't say it the way Mommy does."
"Why does he say it wrong?"....

And on and on. A five minute book always becomes a 15 minute discussion on accents and people living in different parts of the country and ends in the "But why IS their house where it is?" question that can't be answered. Ugh.

Anybody have a list to add?

[hjdong]

That cracks my up. I am also an aunt, not ant, say-er (also east coast born) and that would drive me nuts.

A book I don't like, and I hope not too many people from the adoption forum are reading, is I Love You Like Crazy Cakes. It is a nice story, but it reads in the first person. It's a little complicated to explain, but the main characters are a mother and adopted daughter (the vast majority of Chinese children). It is left fairly generic, which makes me feel like I'm reading an explanation of our story to our son, which is not the case. I don't know; it's just awkward for me. I wish it was written in third person; then I would feel more comfortable with it. Also, there's this part that goes on about how the baby was missing a mother and the mother was missing a baby. I wish it was more the baby was missing a family, which could generically include more types of families. I probably over-analyze it, but I still don't like it.

[August Mom]

Oh, we have a few of these. LOL It's tought when DS really likes a book that I don't. However, if he's not really into the book and I don't like it, we donate it to the library. He doesn't seem to mind too much.

Here's a list of books I don't like:

Barnyard Boogie (my absolute least favorite) - Your hand goes into a puppet mouth and becomes the mouth of different animals on each page. Then there is a nonsensical verse that is difficult to read. Ugh.

Mom Mine (terrible grammar)

Caterpillar Spring, Butterfly Summer

Love Song of Spring; Love Song of Summer; Love Song of Autumn; Love Song of Winter (strange, strange collection of poems for a child -- nice illustrations, though)

[Hallie_D]

OK, I hope this doesn't get me flamed, but I HATE the story "The Rainbow Fish." Don't get me wrong, I love the illustrations, but I hate the idea that the main character is disliked because he is different/attractive and that the only way that he can be accepted is to give up what makes him unique. I don't think that is a good message to teach children. We have always taught DS to share, and we will teach him the value of volunteering and giving, but the idea of being forced to give up something of value in order to be accepted really rubs me the wrong way.

In fact, we don't have the book in our house but I was a preschool teacher for years and always dreaded when one of the children would bring it to me to read.

(takes a deep breath)

DS is also very into a few Dr. Seuss-type stories right now, The Eye Book and The Tooth Book, neither of which I find very appealing to read. I prefer the more classic Seuss books, I guess!

[August Mom]

Well, at the risk of being in the minority around here, I'll confess that I don't like Sandra Boynton books. Barnyard Dance isn't easily accessible. LOL

Also, we just received Hop on Pop-Up (Dr. Seuss) and it is WEIRD. It's a pop-up version but the words are mostly nonsense words and we have no idea what we're supposed to do with the story.

FWIW, I've seen a lot of complaints about Rainbow Fish.

[Phoebe]

You said it perfectly! I dislike that story for the same reasons. It's funny, I'll read it to her if she wants it, but the whole time I'm thinking, "What is this subversive political crap doing in a kids book?".

Phoebe,
Susan 4/01
David 6/03

[colleenfs]

I too cannot stand most of Sandra Boynton's books. I also do not care for Rainbow Fish, though the pictures are stunning.

I wish I had more time; I could add a lot to this thread!! I'll try to come back to it when I can.

~Colleen
Mama to Julia 1-10-02 and children's librarian

http://www.tickercentral.com/view/e3y/1.png

[alkagift]

"Hop on Pop" uuuughhh... It's so repetitive that I let DS turn the pages which results in my only having to read a third of the book.

Allison
Mommy to Matthew Clayton, 5/19/03

[mspacman]

I do not like Green Eggs And Ham.
I do not like it, Sam I Am!
It goes on WAY too long.

[raynjen]

LOL! I don't have to "read" this book anymore, I can just recite it! This comes in handy when folding clothes!

Jen in Okinawa
Mom to a wonderful preschooler,
who just turned three, Noelle!

[sntm]

OMG, Susan, we have the Peppy Puppy version of that book! Creepy puppy head and takes up too much room and hate the story. It was the Santa gift from daycare.

I dislike Brown Bear. Yes, I know it is sacrilege, and Jack loves it, but the story doesn't GO anywhere.

And while I love most Boynton books (Hippos Go Berserk, Pajama Time, The Going to Bed Book, 1-2-3, Birthday Monsters), some have awkward wording (Barnyard Dance, Snuggle Puppy), some end awkwardly (Moo Baa La La La) and some have slightly offensive messages (Hey! Wake Up).

I also DESPISE Ping, which I liked when I was little but I somehow blocked out the fact that the little duck gets switched regularly for no reason and the moral is that he should be grateful for the switching at home because at least it isn't as bad as the scary world out there. Made me cry when I reread it, and I'm considering throwing it away before Jack even sees it.

Goes without saying that I dislike all the books that are TV tie-ins. They are boring commercials at best.
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shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif[/img][/url]
Breastfeeding 17 months and counting

[redhookmom]

I don't like Ping either. I also don't like most Little Golden Books they just don't flow for me. I Love You Forever creeps me out!

"Junk Books" drive me crazy. The TV tie-ins. My ds actually bargains with me at the library to get them and we don't even watch the shows!! He just had a book fair at school and he came home with Captain Underpants which is currently driving me crazy.

I quickly eliminate books that I don't like to read. I hate when my kids ask me to read a book and I cringe. So I try hard to have a huge selection of books that I love to read.

[hjdong]

DS has just decided he likes I love you forver, and everytime I read it he gets a speech about how when he's old enough to move out, I'm am not going to be stalking him! I agree. It's creepy.